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Hoos win 5-3. One Win from Omaha!

It didn't look good early, but an 8th inning rally secured the initial victory for UVa!

Photo Credit - David Petkofsky
Photo Credit - David Petkofsky

Well, nobody ever said UVa baseball games were really fun to watch. They would not be UVa if they did not leave you gasping for breath and thinking all hope was lost at some point.

Lucky for UVa fans, this is baseball; not football.

It did not look pretty early for UVa. After putting runners on time after time, UVa could not get scratch across a run. In both the 4th and 5th innings, the Hoos had a runner on 3rd, but both times they came away with nothing.

Give credit where it is due. Maryland's Mike Shawaryn was masterful nearly his entire 7.1 innings. He gave 7 hits and walked a UVa batter, but only surrendered two runs.

In the 5th, after failing to score a run, things got truly bleak for the Cavaliers. After issuing three walks in the inning, Connor Jones gave up a 2 out double to Terrapin leadoff hitter, Lamont Wade.

It got more bleak in the 7th when Maryland was able to execute a perfect suicide squeeze with 1 out to give Maryland what seemed to be an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

The bats finally came alive for UVa in the 8th. After Adam Haseley leadoff with a line out, the Hoos got four straight singles from Danny Pinero, Matt Thaiss, Kenny Towns, and Pavin Smith to cut the lead to 3-2. Robbie Coman had an impressive ab, but grounded out to give the Terps their 2nd out. Coming into the weekend Maryland's coaching staff said they would not let Joe McCarthy beat them. They did not let him, as they intentionally walked him to load the bases for Kevin Doherty. Doherty had struggled in his previous at-bats, but he laced the first pitch he saw to the LF gap and off Maryland's CF's glove for a double, scoring all three UVa runners and giving the Hoos a 5-3 lead.

After that, it was all she wrote for the Terps. Josh Sborz came in, and although he gave up a leadoff single in the 8th, another Terp did not sniff first base as he struck out 2 over the final two innings to give UVa the win.

No recap can be complete without a mention of the tremendous job Connor Jones did. Although he struggled in the 5th allowing Maryland to score two runs, he only gave up 3 hits over his 7 innings. More importantly, he did not force Coach O'Connor to go to the bullpen before Sborz, saving the pen for the final games of the Super Regional.

With the win, UVa is just one win away from its fourth trip to the College World Series. Brandon Waddell will take the mound for UVa. The 3rd year pitched exceptional last year against the Terrapins in the Super Regional going 5.1 innings and only allowed a single run before handing the ball to Artie Lewicki, who closed out the UVa victory.

Game time is set for 3 PM tomorrow on ESPNU.